Chapter 10 begins with a discussion of the wealth of the German salt mines. One rich area of salt deposits was in southern Germany on the Austrian border. Some towns even shared salt deposits that spanned the border, causing constant strife. One of these towns was Saltzburg, originally independent and later part of Austria. Some of its salt mines were shared with neighboring Bavarian towns and in the 17th century when Satlzburg tried to undercut the price of salt, leading to the "salt war."

Originally, the salt was mined in Germany by pumping water into the mine and then boiling the resulting brine to release the salt. The Saltzburg and Hallein salt mines are on the Danube river...